Chuck Sweeny: Readers have mixed views on retired pol's land

Monday

Sep 30, 2013 at 12:01 AMSep 30, 2013 at 4:38 PM

I got a lot of feedback on Sunday’s column about former state Rep. Dave Winters’ swampland in northern Winnebago County near Shirland, which may be bought by the Winnebago County Forest Preserve District.

Chuck Sweeny

I got a lot of feedback on Sunday’s column about former state Rep. Dave Winters’ swampland in northern Winnebago County near Shirland, which may be bought by the Winnebago County Forest Preserve District.

Winters received $937,000 from the federal government in 2003 for taking more than 500 acres out of production and letting it revert to wetland.

The Forest Preserve Board has offered to pay him and his soon-to-be ex-wife Kathy $899,000 from private sources, to buy most of the same land, which cannot be developed, for a wetland preserve. I said that despite the political connection, the purchase still makes sense. Here are excerpts of what readers had to say:

Cathy Johnson: “Agreed. That site could be great opportunity for an eco-tourism effort. There are several other sites nearby that could combine with this to provide a critical mass for some potentially great activities.”

Fred Wallin: “Strange how politicians and their supporter(s) always know where to speculate. If I bought a bunch of swampland, I’d be screwed and laughed at.”

Jon Scott Kendrick: “Other than compromise, politics is the art of perception. This looks bad, yet I agree on its purchase ... Remind me of this when my property taxes go up ... Yet preservation of our natural habitats is important. However I do wonder, how many other wetland properties out there have been passed by because the owner did not have the right connections to make their property well known?”

Jim O’Rourke: “Another sweetheart deal for a former pol. My question is what else is the land good for? Who else would want to buy it? Why do we have to pay a premium? Offer him much less. He already got $900K for it once. If he is motivated to sell, let him find another buyer. If not, why give him a huge offer?”

Dick Kulpa, cartoonist, caricature artist, former Winnebago County Board member and before that a Loves Park alderman, weighed in from his home in Florida: “Hey, I’ve got some choice swampland down here in South Florida I’ll sell you. Perhaps the state of Illinois can declare a state of emergency, acquire Winters’ land via eminent domain and offer it to the Forest Preserve for the money ...”

Frank Dyke: “$900K for land that has no commercial or economic value? As far as I can tell, the land is just a burden to the former state rep. He should be thrilled that the county would be willing to relieve him of the burden of ownership. How about we give the Winterses a different offer: The Winterses just sign over the swamp, and they get to stop paying taxes on it ...”

Barry Erwin: “It must be difficult to find (comparisons) for assessing the value of swampland. I would suggest that land that can’t be developed or farmed has a very low value. Usually if you only have one interested party, you get a very low sale price. Any push to buy it now smells to high heaven. Let him sit on it and pay real estate taxes based on that $900K value. The swamp isn’t going anywhere. Who are these politicians who think the majority of citizens give a (deleted) about saving 500 acres of swamp?”